


The Paths Of Tomorrow

by inexprymable



Category: Wentworth (TV)
Genre: F/F, Mentions of Sexual Assault
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-30
Updated: 2016-06-13
Packaged: 2018-07-11 05:55:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,344
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7031785
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inexprymable/pseuds/inexprymable





	1. Chapter 1

Vera leaned against the wall of her office, air-conditioned chill coating her in soft tides that cooled her heated body. She covered her ice blue orbs with heavy eyelids, calming her rapid breath. She found herself almost tranquillised, cleansed of memories that were too overwhelming to stomach. The momentary bliss was interrupted by tart solitude that fluttered in her chest, breaking her soul and making it restless. She's never been free of her past.

She covered her face with her palms and exhaled soundly, when she felt a warm breath on her skin, making her flutter open her eyes. Her gaze was met with the brightness of J's long sun-kissed curls and misty grey of vigilant eyes.

"You're standing too close." Vera stated and attempted to push the other woman away. Unsurprisingly, Goldilocks didn't even flinch. The governor huffed and scrunched her nose. J cupped Vera's cheek tenderly, feeling under her icy fingertips how hot was the slender woman's skin. The moment didn't last long as Vera slapped her hand away.

The girl let her gaze fall down and bit her lip, swallowing hard to stop her stomach's content from leaving her digestive system. She cleared her throat and spoke quietly. "Vera, there's something you should know..."

"You look pale." The newly confident governor disregarded J's words and touched her forehead with the back of her hand. The girl wasn't just colorless. Her body temperature seemed to be lower than it should. "I'm taking you to medical." Vera stated and tried to push the girl away once more but failed.

Cold fingers gripped on Vera's blazer, eyes poking into Vera's dilated pupils. "I'm alright, it's not me you should be worried about." Her small voice was dying in her throat. She took a few deep breaths, which didn't improve the way she felt. "For fuck's sake! Vera! You hired me to protect her and now you don't even listen to me!" Her shouting made her voice raspy. The veins on her neck seemed to grow bigger and pulsated with hot blood. The grip on Vera's sleeves tightened.

"What happened?" The governor decided to ask. She didn't sound concerned but J knew that this feature was only hiding behind a façade of the self assured woman that Vera appeared to be. The blonde pointed towards the door, not being able to stand in the cool office anymore. Vera gave in to whatever the inmate was up to. She opened the door and walked beside the taller woman.

J shuddered at the sudden change of temperature. That didn't go unnoticed by the governor but as asked, she tried to ignore this for once and listen to the only person she was able to fully trust. "You have to keep it together, when we're inside." J commanded. "You're not prepared to see her like this."

_For nearly four days, Vera was very subtly tailing the blonde. She would nonchalantly observe her through CCTV. She would follow the woman to the cafeteria, spying on her through the glass. Many times, she would glance up to find the inmate looking straight at her. Vera would pretend that she didn't make eye contact with her. The blonde would smile tenderly at her before returning to her conversations with cell block mates or her food._

_Vera was full of hope that that the woman would be alone for a moment so that she could approach her without suspicious gazes from the others. J seemed to be enjoying being surrounded by Kaz's crew. She also found Vera's interest in her rather appealing. The governor was almost certainly considering giving up on her little mission. That idea quickly faded with a sudden and unexpected development in J's routine._

_One morning, while she was sitting in her office, preparing to start her shift, she decided to enter J's cell block and talk to her before the other women in this area were awake. She knew that the blonde would be awake. She opened the gate and unlocked the door of J's cell, making as little sound as possible. The girl was found with a sketch book in her hands, trying to hide it from the governor. It was too late for that. Vera caught her with a pencil in her hand. "You're not allowed to have a pencil in here. You know the rules." The governor said with a hint of rasp in her voice._

_"She isn't coming here for another few hours. Besides, won't she be guarded by one of your officers?" The blonde asked, raising her eyebrow slightly. "Chill, governor. We both know she'd be fucked if she pulled any stunt." The girl had no idea her word would become a prophecy. Vera wasn't amused with her response, she closed the door to make their conversation impossible to hear by anyone else in this cell block. J hid her drawing items under the mattress and stood up, approaching the shorter woman. "So, what do you want?"_

_Vera furrowed her brow, looking questionably into young girl's eyes. "How can you possibly know that I want anything from you?" The question was unnecessary. The girl was brighter than she appeared to be and Vera knew exactly that she was wasting her time, instead of approaching the subject from the very beginning of their conversation. The blonde took another step forward, stepping into Vera's personal space. The governor moved to reach for her radio but J's hand stopped her._

_"Just tell me what it is. Kaz thinks you have hots for me but that's bull. So?" Her eyes were boring holes in Vera's, trying to get the answer straight. She patted the small crown on Vera's shoulder._

_The former deputy sighed and said with utter certainty. "I want you to protect Joan Ferguson."_

_The prisoner's face remained neutral for a second. Then, she burst out with laughter and was forced to cover her mouth, not to emit too much sound. She didn't want to explain herself to Kaz about the governor's morning visit. She needed a moment to calm herself down. "No fucking way. How do you expect of me to be the guardian angel of the biggest enemy of every woman in this sodding place, when I can't even protect myself?"_

_"Just... Tell me if she's in danger."_

_"She's been in peril ever since you decided to put her in general."_

Vera stopped at the edge of Joan's cell, making step backwards and pressing her back against the wall as she watched the inmate dart forward. J made her way over to Joan's bed. The governor peeked through the door frame and started walking towards the bed involuntarily. A strange feeling, like remorse, fluttered in chestnut haired woman as she realised that Joan was, in fact, hurting. Vera saw her trembling, shivering, and that was when she heard it. A heart-wrenching, guttural sob ripped up from her throat. Joan was crying.

Vera'd never seen the former governor like that. The only times, when Joan dropped her shield and showed genuine emotion, was when she talked about Jianna. But it wasn't the same. Joan seemed to be completely shattered, damaged. The blue eyed woman's heart clenched as her eyes filled with tears at the sounds that Joan was making. Her pain was melting Vera's insides like fire. She had an intense wish to sit down next to her and comfort her, hold her in her arms. She'd never considered it before. That was the moment when she comprehended the real nature of her feelings towards Joan. She truly cared about Joan Ferguson.

She watched as Joan lifted her head and attempted to push back the messy strands of hair that were partially out of her ponytail. Her face was reddened and swollen from the tears. Vera looked at the blonde with desperate need to know the source of Joan's pain. After a moment of silence, she couldn't handle the tension anymore. "Get the fuck out of here!" She commanded. J looked at her with puzzled expression. "Now!"

As soon as the door lock clicked and they were alone, Vera leaned over Joan and put Joan's hair behind her ear, caressing her face supposedly unintentionally. "Who did this to you?" She asked, choking on her breath. The broken woman's eyes disappeared behind her eyelids, while Vera was hoping for them to part. She wanted Joan to open her eyes and say that everything's alright. She was stupid enough to believe for a second that Joan wasn't hurt. When Joan didn't form a response, Vera spoke again, her voice soft and quiet, a little above the whisper. "Oh Joan, what has happened to you?"

"V-Ve-ra?"

The former deputy's heart sank into her stomach. Joan tried to move, but she couldn't. Vera tried to speak, but she failed.


	2. Chapter 2

Looking at the sink, she noticed a blood covered viridian blue towel, which made her stomach turn. Vera took a stabilizing breath. She was conflicted. She wanted to run, while simultaneously she wanted to stay with Joan. She could hardly breathe, her chest seemed to be tightening with each intake of air. She took in the tears tracking Joan's face, pain was written all over it. Watching the former governor became difficult, heart-wrenching. Vera's top priority was keeping Joan alive and unharmed. She failed miserably with the latter. "Mea culpa" She was repeatedly telling herself.

Her gaze returned to the weeping woman. She found herself falling hard on the concrete floor with her knees and rolling her eyes down with guilt. "I'm so sorry, Joan," she whispered. What had she done? She shouldn't have set her free from the protection unit. Her thoughts were panicked, anxieties collapsed and rolled through her mind and soul.

Joan refused to give her any answer. She would look blankly at her, sometimes Vera's name would slid off her lips. Then, Vera would take her hand and speak softly that everything was going to be alright, promise that she wouldn't leave her side. As soon as Joan fell asleep, the governor let the heavy tears stain her face. Her thoughts were a startled, embroiled mess.

When the former governor's breath heaved, Vera noticed her eyelids parting. Joan wasn't just trembling, she paled and produced strangled noises of agony. Vera wrapped her arms around her, tenderly embracing her and kissing her temple with the softest of kisses. She felt wetness on Joan's cheek, her lips still pressing against the cool skin. The woman was crying heavily, painfully, and Vera cried with her.

The chestnut woman's heart felt as if it might have exploded. She fought hard with herself to be able to say those words. "Please, Joan, go back to sleep," Her voice barely reaching Joan's ears. "I'm not going anywhere."

_J cornered Vera, who has just exited Joan's cell. "What the fucking hell was that?" The young girl asked loudly, not caring if her cell block companions would notice. Vera opened her mouth to say something but J raised her finger to stop her. Lowering her voice, she stated. "Spitting at her is merely the beginning. You're fucking delusional if you think you can keep her safe in here." She turned around and stamping heavily on the floor, she approached the couch and sat on it with a thud. Then, she heard Joan's voice speaking through the door, asking the officer if he let her leave her cell to make some tea. She couldn't believe when the screw ordered Proctor to do this for her and bring into her cell._

_The young blonde walked to her cell, barely making any noise in her trainer shoes, moving slowly and listening to the leader of Red Right Hand and the former governor talking. She picked a book up from the counter and read the title, then returned to the couch and opened the book where she'd finished. Kaz exited Joan's cell and walked over to Allie, when J heard a sound of someone spilling something to the sink. J knew that Joan desperately needed to make an alliance with someone and realised that tea was only an excuse to get into conversation with Kaz._

_Linda Miles changed guards with officer Lawson and the women went to the exercise yard, leaving the officer and Joan in H3. When Joan was given lunch, she asked to eat outside of her cell, with no one else being there. Unsurprisingly, Linda permitted her to do that. Joan was lucky enough to find a book next to the tray with food, "Crime and Punishment". The right corner of her lips twitched lightly upwards, while she started thinking about the owner of the novel._

The embrace was pleasant and felt shockingly enjoyable. Maybe they were on the precipice of something greater, something more significant than anything either of them had ever known.

Vera's body was starting to hurt from sitting on the edge of the bed over the panting body of the former governor, who was actually curled in her grasp. Despite the many differences and walls that both of them had built around themselves, neither of them wanted to move; Joan was seeking comfort, while Vera was slowly realising she could provide her that. She would be there for her as long as she needed. The only thing she was focused on was soothing the woman, whose privacy had been beastly violated that day.

_As soon as the unit was crowded again, J noticed that her book had been missing. At first, she was looking for it herself. Her search was a failure and she started asking women about it. Silence. No one had seen anything. No one knew it was available in the library. "Allie, have you seen my book?" She threw a question at her the second the woman entered their unit with Kaz. She received a shrug and attempted to ask Proctor about it. "Hey, Kaz, have you seen a copy of "Crime and Punishment" that I've been reading before going to the yard?" Another failure. J was clever and could connect the dots, she secretly expected the unexpected._


End file.
